Al-Dhira'

Gemini constellation map showing Castor, Pollux, Procyon and Beta Canis Minoris (Gomeisa)

Al-Dhira' and similar spellings (e.g. "Alderaan", "Al-Dhirá'án",[1] "Aldryan"[2]) is a disused name for the two pairs of stars α and β Canis Minoris (Procyon and Gomeisa) and α and β Geminorum (Castor and Pollux).

The name was taken from Arabic al-dhirā`ain الذراعين (meaning "the two forearms" or "the two front paws" or "the two cubit measuring rods").[3][1] It may refer to a Bedouin asterism of an enlarged rampant Lion centered on Leo and stretching over a quarter of the sky with its forepaws at these two pairs of stars.[4][2] However, it may originally have referred to the "measuring rods" meaning, but an astronomer whose native language was not Arabic supposed that it meant "the two forepaws" literally and invented the enlarged Lion constellation.

References

  1. 1 2 Chaucer, Geoffrey; Mā Shā' Allah, al-Miṡrī (1872). A Treatise on the Astrolabe: Addressed to His Son Lowys by Geoffrey Chaucer, A.D. 1391. Chaucer Society. p. LVII. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  2. 1 2 Poole, Stuart (1868). "The Athenaeum: Journal of Literature, Science, the Fine Arts, Music and the Drama". 2863. p. 540, first column. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  3. ↑ Allen, Richard Hinckley (1963). Star Names — Their Lore and Meaning. Dover Books. entry β for the singular al-dhirā` (p. 135). Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  4. ↑ Savage-Smith, Emilie; Rapoport, Yossef (25 October 2013). An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe: The Book of Curiosities, Edited with an Annotated Translation. BRILL. p. 559. ISBN 9789004256996. Retrieved 25 July 2017 – via Google Books.


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